Sunglasses are known to protect eyes from UV (ultraviolet) damage and harmful sun exposure at certain times of the day, but did you know they can they can also play havoc.
With your hormones and lead to insomnia and depression? Sunglasses are considered one of the coolest accessories among youth today and people tend to overuse them even when they aren’t required. Wearing them all the time, however, can meddle with the body’s circadian clock and cause several health issues.
Tim Gray, health optimising biohacker, psychology specialist, entrepreneur and global speaker says wearing sunglasses can starve the pineal gland and tricks the brain into thinking it’s cloudy and stops the skin from preparing for skin exposure.
“On a sunny day, specific wavelengths of light from the sun filter into the eyes. This feeds the pituitary and pineal glands and lets the brain know it’s sunny. The skin then prepares for direct sunlight exposure and gets ready to make vitamin D,” Tim Gray writes in his recent Instagram post.
The health expert says sunglasses can also mess with one’s circadian rhythm which can lead to fatigue, insomnia and even depression (Seasonal Affective Disorder).
Talking about the importance of sunlight, Gray says it helps regulate your hormones by stimulating the hypothalamus in the brain, which is connected to your pineal gland. The expert says when your eyes aren’t absorbing sunlight naturally, your hormone cycles can be severely altered, messing with many different body systems and your moods.
“They can cause your eyes to become tired because they have to work harder to get natural light. This can lead to poorer vision over time,” adds Gray.
The health expert concludes that sunglasses have their role to play in shielding eyes when skiing, on the water or driving when the sunlight is bright but not all day and every day.